


Gone for Five Seconds

by xxjinchuurikixx



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 15:02:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18640492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxjinchuurikixx/pseuds/xxjinchuurikixx
Summary: Steve comes back in five seconds after he returns the stones, the way he was meant to.





	Gone for Five Seconds

**Author's Note:**

> I've never done a fix-it before, and this is DEFINITELY not fixing everything, but I wanted to throw this at the kids who need some fluff and BETTER CHARACTER UNDERSTANDING OF STEVE ROGERS. Thank you, please enjoy.  
> (This might feature in a longer fix it fic later, but this scene I HAD to write, as the gods commanded) Don't look too deep into it, my emotions are still all over the place.
> 
> xo, mo. Come yell at me on tumblr! [xxjinchuurikixx](http://xxjinchuurikixx.tumblr.com/)

“So, how long is this gonna take?” Sam asks, watching Bruce move a few switches around.

  
Steve and Bucky are a few feet away, at the edge of the platform, talking about something Sam can’t hear.

  
“For him, as long as he needs. For us, about five seconds,” Bruce says, turning one toggle and then another. “Steve?”

  
Steve looks down at the stones, then back up at Bucky. He grins. “Don’t do anything stupid till I get back.”

  
The smile Bucky gives him is tired and soft. “How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you.”

  
Steve pulls Bucky into his arms, hugging him for what feels like the first time in years. He thinks the last time he got to hug Bucky was in Wakanda, but then there was the hug after the fight, and the hug at Tony’s funeral, then the hug last night. Still, it feels like the last time Steve will get to hug Bucky for the foreseeable future, so he grabs on tight and murmurs, “It’ll be okay, Buck.”

  
Bucky releases him, taking a step back from the platform with a watery sigh. “Time travel. Still don’t have my flying car, but you can time travel.”  
Steve shrugs, lacing Mjolnir’s handle around his wrist. “Maybe we can figure something out when I get back.”

  
“I’m gonna miss you…” Bucky has that look, so tired and resigned, like he’s about to go lie down and if he doesn’t get up, oh well. Steve hates that look. He’ll fix it the second he gets back.

  
He looks over at Bruce and gives a nod, and his suit mask closes up over his face. The particles tingle, the sudden feeling of space sinking out from beneath his feet, the world consisting of the future, then nothing, then the past, all at once.

  
Sam looks over at Bucky, who has tucked his hands into his pockets and is looking at the platform with a heavy cloud of exhaustion over his head.

  
“Hey, you gonna get some rest when he gets back?” Sam asks, and Bucky doesn’t turn to look at him.

  
He presses his lips to a fine line, then shakes his head. “I don’t know.”

  
“Alright,” Bruce says, fingers hesitating over a switch. “Five, four, three, two…” He flicks the switch.

  
The platform whirrs, glows, and then—

  
“Where is he?” Sam asks, looking from the portal to Bruce, and then back.

  
“He must have missed his jump,” Bruce says, voice dropping with worry as he starts fussing with toggles and switches, twisting and pressing buttons as the radars fire down and the screens settle.

  
“Well get him back. Where is he, Bruce?” The panic in Sam’s voice is almost enough to get Bucky’s attention, but he’s looking at the white bench that sits near the edge of the lake, right under a picturesque oak tree.

  
Bucky’s legs are moving before he thinks about it, approaching the figure sitting there.  
Soft blonde locks are tousled by the breeze, shoulders broad and relaxed, and Bucky can smell sandalwood and summer when he grabs Steve and turns him around.  
Steve looks up at him, smiling, bright blue eyes the same as they were not even a moment ago, his face the most beautiful thing Bucky’s ever seen. “Hey. Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you. My jumps moved, so… Though I’d take a seat.”

  
“You look…” Bucky shakes his head, dropping his hand from Steve’s shoulder slowly. “I thought you’d… thought you were gonna…” Steve looks exactly the same as he had just a minute ago, only his jeans are darker and he’s wearing a soft, old-looking gray T. The quantum suit is gone, but the watch is still around his wrist. “I thought…”

  
“Yeah, I bet that’s what you thought. Show’s what you know,” Steve says, his voice laced with teasing as he stands up, resting Mjolnir on the bench beside him. “Sam! Bruce! Over here, guys.”

  
Bruce and Sam both turn in tandem, and then Sam is trotting over and throwing his arms around Steve. “I thought you got sucked into some time tunnel. Woulda had to go back to the future for you.”

  
“Still haven’t seen that,” Steve laughs, pushing Sam off. “Here, I got you something.” He reaches down to the round suitcase looking thing at his feet, like a piece of luggage for an instrument. He unzips one side, and Sam gawks down at the bit of red and silver gleaming metal.

  
“…I don’t get it,” Sam says.

  
Steve unzips the case completely, pulling out a fully restored shield from his final jump. “Well, I’ve been thinking about a temporary retirement… A break. Settling down for a bit. Might get some of that life Tony was talking about.” His blue eyes flick to Bucky’s face, then back to Sam as he runs a hand over the shield. “Try it on for me.”  
Sam looks at Bucky, blinking in a daze.

  
Bucky locks his jaw and gives a small nod, to which Sam looks back at Steve, then the shield. He slides his arm into the leather straps, Steve smiling at him as he holds the shield steady. Sam adjusts his grip, and when Steve lets go, the shield is… there. On his arm.

  
“How’s it feel?” Steve asks.

  
“…Like it belongs to someone else,” Sam says, softly.

  
Steve shrugs. “It doesn’t.” When Sam looks back up at him, Steve is smiling that sky-shattering, traffic-stopping smile that makes Sam want to punch him, and Sam lets out a huff of air.

  
“Well… Okay, fine, I guess. Pretty sorry, as far as gifts go. This thing is as old as my grandpa,” Sam says, covering the lump in his throat with sarcasm. “And you’re not gettin’ it back until I don’t want it anymore.”

  
Steve smiles. “Fine by me, really. I’ll have other stuff to do for a bit. Enjoy your vintage present."

  
“Yeah, better than not gettin’ a present at all,” Bucky says dryly, gray eyes locked on Steve’s face, brows knit together.

  
Steve turns his gaze back to Bucky, his smile softening as he reaches a hand out and takes Bucky’s cool, metal fingers. “I think I’m alright, as far as gifts go.”  
Sam looks between them.

  
Bucky blinks. “Huh?”

  
“Buck, you didn’t think I was gonna leave you here, did ya?” Steve asks, his brows furrowing as his smile tilts into a smirk. “I couldn’t abandon my best guy.”

  
“I just… You know, time travel… I thought there were things you wanted,” Bucky says, then clears his throat. He looks down at Steve’s hand holding his, the Wakandan vibranium a stunning contrast to Steve’s soft, pale fingers. “You know, things that, uh… Not this.”

  
_Not me_ hangs in the air, and Bucky feels it in his throat but doesn’t let it slip past, doesn’t let the pounding of his heart register aside from the sound of rushing blood in his ears.

  
Steve smiles. “Everything I want is right here. And it’s always been everything I needed.” Steve takes Bucky’s other hand in his, which has gotten clammy from the closeness, and Bucky stutters out a gasp and looks down at his feet, hair hanging in his face.

  
“Oh,” Bucky mumbles.

  
“Oh,” Steve says, knocking his forehead into Bucky’s, staying there.

  
Bucky makes a sniffly sound, then looks up into Steve’s face, eyes shining and lips smiling. “Kiss me, punk.”

  
“When you say it so nice,” Steve says, rolling his eyes before he cups Bucky’s cheek with one hand and presses their lips together.

  
Bucky drops Steve’s other hand, fisting his hands in the soft, worn material of his shirt, and Steve tugs him close, the weight of the world condensing to Bucky holding him to its surface.

  
Sam makes a noise, then mutters, “Don’t mind me, I’ll just,” and walks back over to where Bruce is still standing in a daze.

  
“Are they—“

  
“Yeah.”

  
“Were they—“

  
“Nope.”

  
“Should—“

  
“Let’s go, big guy. Regular-sized man is makin’ tacos,” Sam says, shifting the shield on his arm. It's a weight he can get used to, if it means Steve can have some peace, some time, some of everything he deserves. Sam smiles.

  
Back under the oak tree, Steve threads his hands through Bucky’s hair, touches the small of his back, his shoulders. And Bucky kisses him and kisses him, feeling like what’s happening is a memory from the future, if that could make any, any sense at all.  
  
  


 

**Author's Note:**

> I think we can all agree Steve got FUCKED. Fucked right OVER. Sorry Tony is still dead, he might live in another fix-it, but this on was specifically to fix Steve and to wipe that pitiful, horrible look of abandonment off of Bucky's face. My favs deserve better, and if SOMEBODY'S gotta do it, I will!!


End file.
